This spring season, we are taking it in a bit of a different direction. We will usually select a washed Ethiopian coffee for our Spring seasonal origin, but since our selections have been a little heavy on the Ethiopians this year we decided to look to other regions. We first purchased coffee from the Red 5 Coop last year and it was an instant hit. Employees and customers alike were impressed with the clean, crisp profile and easy going flavors of cherry, chocolate and brown sugar. We had already committed to watching for the Red 5 again this season, so we decided to up our order and release it as the 2025 Halcyon.

The Red 5 de Diciembre network is the largest organization of producers in the La Cañada, and itself made up by 13 first-level organizations to represent 1,300 small indigenous producers. They formed as an independent group on the 5th of December, 2014, after La Roya devastated crops in region and chased away international buyers. Over the past six years this group has been working to improve selective harvesting, specialty processing, and marketing of these higher value lots. They’ve succeeded in growing membership and obtaining organic certification, but it was not until 2020 that they were able to achieve and significant premiums for exporting specialty.

Founded in 2020 in the Municipality of San Lucas Zoquiápam in the State of Oaxaca, San Isidro Zoquipam is located at an elevation of 1966 meters above sea level with a population belonging to the Mazatec ethnic group. The 90 families represented by this group grow Typica, bourbon, caturra and Mundo Novo and are part of the Red 5 network.

Altitude: 4,600ft

Region: La Cañada, Oaxaca, Mexico

Producer: 90 regional family farmers

Varietals: Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, Mundo Novo

Process: Washed

Tasting Notes: cherry, dark chocolate, walnut, brown sugar